The Heinen's Grocery Store Blog

It’s Citrus Season!

It’s peak citrus season, and Heinen’s has you covered with a wide variety of oranges, grapefruits and lemons. There really is something for everyone and this is the best time of the year to enjoy some citrus and brighten up your day.

We work with Melissa’s Produce to bring you a selection of both common and unique citrus products. Here are just a few of the citrus options we have at Heinen’s.

Tangerines & Oranges

Ojai Pixie TangerineThis easy-to-peel tangerine is grown in Ojai Valley, CA. The valley is unique because it runs east to west, instead of north to south. This means that the valley gets full sun all day, making it perfect for citrus. This sweet, seedless tangerine is great for kids.

Cara Cara OrangeThe Cara Cara is my favorite piece of citrus. It’s a lower acid orange and you can really taste the sugar because of that.

In addition to just eating out of hand, oranges and tangerines are a nice addition to fruit or tossed salads. Easy to peel varieties like clementines or Ojai Pixies are especially nice for salads since the segments come apart easily. Citrus is also great to use for dressings. I like the juice of a blood orange and olive oil, but any citrus would work.

Lemons

Meyer LemonYou could eat the Meyer lemon by itself – that’s how sweet it is. This is a nice additive to a dressing, or for cooking if you don’t like a real sour lemon. Meyers are also awesome in water because they’re sweeter.

Seedless LemonThe seedless lemon is really juicy and is also great for your water. At the store, we slice it in rings and put it in a pitcher of water. You could do that at home and it would last 3 or 4 days. You don’t have to worry about seeds and it looks nice!

Buddha’s HandThis one is super fragrant. Cut a piece off and throw it in your garbage disposal – it will clean it right up. The skin can be used as a zest, and I’ve also used this in my water – there’s no pulp like in a regular lemon. Plus, it looks cool!

Grapefruit

PummeloThis is a really large, green grapefruit that has hints of lime flavor. It has pink meat, but it’s not quite as sweet as a regular grapefruit.

Cocktail GrapefruitThis guy is ridiculously juicy and has a sweet flavor, almost like honey. If you want to make grapefruit juice, this is the best one to use. It’s my favorite grapefruit.

The weather may be bleak, but Heinen’s produce department is bright with a great selection of citrus! Stop by and pick up an old favorite or try something new.